Mikawa

Specialty: Tempura

Experiencing tempura in Japan makes you rethink every deep-fried vegetable or morsel of seafood that’s been passed off as “tempura" in the past. For genuine, light-as-air tempura, the place to start is one-Michelin-star Mikawa in Roppongi, which has the feel of a cosy home, offering just nine bar seats for an omakase fried foods adventure. Here, longtime tempura master Tetsuya Saotome preps a menu based on edomae tradition, that is, using the kinds of food available in Tokyo during Japan’s Edo period from 1603 to 1867. His fried vegetables, meats, fish, and other seasonal ingredients such as ebi and matsutake mushrooms are coated with a fragile batter that both preserves moisture and intensifies flavour.